Today in our daily chapel, we focused on children. More specifically, we focused on children who were without food--who gained their only sustenance from the dumpsters in which they scavenged. We focused on children who were without legs--who had discovered one of the millions of active landmines around the world and had been devastatingly injured. We focused on the children without a family, without health, without hope. Every time I think about these children, or about the parents who must raise their children in abject poverty, my heart nearly breaks. After chapel, as I walked to volleyball practice, I wanted to just throw myself to the ground and mourn for the children around the world who could not run and play, who could not remember an hour free from hunger.
A startling number of people have approached me lately and thanked me for being such a positive influence in their life. They remark that I am never unhappy, that I always have something encouraging and uplifting to say to them. I often wonder why they are surprised, as the biggest problems I have to worry about are some difficult assignments. Two papers and a speech. THOSE ARE MY MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS!! What excuse do I have to be discouraging when my struggles are so trivial?
Why do I have so much, when others have so little? What was God thinking when he put me here, and another little girl in Haiti? More importantly, what can I do about the anguish I am feeling now? It is not enough simply to feel bad, and do nothing. What can one girl do when faced with the overwhelming problems that come from living in a broken world? I suppose for now I will pray. I will pray to a God who is bigger than poverty, disease, and hurt. I will pray that he will heal the brokenness, and that he will use me as a part of his healing. I will pray that I may never forget all those who have so little, and that I may always be ready to serve in whatever way God asks me.
Here I am, Lord. Use me.
3 comments:
This is rather off topic, but how did you get your blog to have such a beautiful backround? I'm really bad with this stuff.
Way to be, Maria. Way to be totally off-topic. ;)
Well, there are a few different ways to do it. I actually found this background at pyzam.com (note the seizure-inducing neon orange advertising bar at the top of my blog). There are some really amazing layouts there. When you find one you like, you just copy and paste the HTML code for that layout into the "edit HTML" box under the "layouts" tab of your blog. It's pretty intuitive, so it's not really hard at all. Have fun! =)
This is a heavy reality so many of us face. Our hearts lean toward being "fixers" of the hurt and hardship we see, but like a jigsaw puzzle piece, we cannot correctly fill a hole that is not shaped for us. As you go through life in prayer, God will make clear to you which "hole" you are to fill. Perhaps it will be one of material blessing so you CAN repair some of the brokeness of this world. Perhaps he will make you a teacher of such great skill that you prepare hundreds of Christians who are to be the ones going out as "repairers." God knows. So, Kimberlee, keep encouraging those around you by your wonderful joy-in-living. Knowing God has a plan and place just for you is so exciting and so comforting because you do not have to carry the burden "why me?"
Post a Comment